Why Do Songs Get Stuck in Your Head?

Does anyone else get a tiny bit of a song stuck in their head and find that their brain has apparently decided this will now be the soundtrack to the rest of the day?

It happens to me all the time.

And annoyingly, it often isn’t even a song I like.

It might be something I’ve heard on the radio or TV that I wouldn’t have even thought I knew the words to. Yet somehow my brain does, and it’s picked one tiny section to play over and over again.

Then there are the really random ones. I’ll be in the shower or doing something completely unrelated and suddenly a song I haven’t thought about in years pops up.

So why does this happen?

There’s Actually a Name for It

Photo by kyle smith on Unsplash

Most of us call it an earworm, but researchers have a slightly fancier name: involuntary musical imagery, or INMI.

Basically, it’s when music pops into your head without you deliberately choosing to think about it, often as a short section that repeats itself.

Which is exactly what happens to me. I rarely get a helpful performance of the entire song. It’s normally just one tiny bit.

Again.

And again.

And again.

Thanks, brain.

Why Do Some Songs Get Stuck?

Hearing a song recently can be enough to set off an earworm, which probably explains why songs from adverts, TV and the radio are such repeat offenders.

Researchers who looked at earworms reported by 3,000 people found that popular songs and those that had been in the UK charts more recently were more likely to get stuck. Certain musical features mattered too, including faster tempos, familiar melodic shapes and distinctive repetitions or jumps between notes.

So apparently some songs really are better equipped to move into your head and refuse to leave.

The fact that I don’t actually like the song doesn’t seem to be enough to stop it.

But Where Did THAT Song Come From?

This is the bit I find particularly strange.

Sometimes I can work out exactly why I’ve got a song stuck in my head. Someone has mentioned it, I’ve heard it playing somewhere or it’s been on TV.

Other times?

Absolutely no idea.

Research suggests that memory associations can trigger earworms too. Something you see, hear, think about or experience might remind your brain of a song without you consciously noticing the connection.

So when my brain suddenly digs up something I haven’t heard in 15 years while I’m having a shower, there might actually have been a trigger.

I just have absolutely no idea what it was.

Why Do They Come Back When Everything Goes Quiet?

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

This happens to me a lot.

I’ll put something else on and finally the annoying little loop goes quiet.

Success!

Then whatever I’m listening to ends, everything goes quiet and…

There it is again.

Research into earworms suggests they’re more likely to pop up when our brains aren’t busy concentrating on something else. In one experiment, reports of earworms dropped as people were given tasks requiring more attention.

That could explain why mine seem particularly fond of appearing during things like showers or other moments when my brain isn’t concentrating on very much.

Apparently it sees an empty space and thinks, You know what this needs? THAT SONG AGAIN.

Is My Brain Just Particularly Good at Getting Stuck?

Music isn’t the only thing my brain does this with.

Sometimes someone will say a particular word or phrase and I’ll automatically echo something back that it reminds me of without even thinking about it.

I’ve wondered whether my tendency to get things stuck on repeat could be connected to ADHD. There isn’t enough evidence for me to say that ADHD is why I get so many earworms, so I’m definitely not going to diagnose my brain based on its questionable musical choices.

There is something interesting going on with repetitive habits, though. A 2025 study involving 883 people found that stronger everyday habitual tendencies were associated with more frequent earworms, alongside other repetitive behaviours and thoughts.

So perhaps some brains really are just particularly fond of getting themselves into a loop.

Can You Actually Get Rid of an Earworm?

This was obviously the question I really wanted answered.

Sadly, there isn’t a magic off button.

Some people find listening to the whole song helps their brain finish whatever it apparently started. Distracting yourself by listening to or thinking about a different song can help too, although sometimes simply leaving the earworm alone and waiting for it to disappear is suggested.

There’s also a considerably more random option.

Chewing gum.

Researchers found that chewing gum reduced unwanted musical thoughts in a series of experiments, possibly because the movements involved interfere with some of the processes we use to mentally “hear” music.

Which means next time I’ve got three seconds of an annoying song going around my head for the hundredth time, apparently I should reach for the chewing gum.

I’ll report back.

And Then There Was Dugga Doo…

Doctor Who managed to provide me with a particularly bad earworm recently thanks to Dugga Doo.

Then the BBC decided what the world really needed was a 24-hour YouTube feed of it.

Twenty-four hours.

Whoever came up with that clearly doesn’t suffer from earworms (or maybe they do and maybe that was the whole plan).

Mine will sometimes quieten down if I put something else on, but as soon as everything goes quiet, they’re liable to start straight back up again.

And perhaps that’s the strangest thing about earworms. You don’t choose the song, you don’t necessarily like the song and sometimes you don’t even know why your brain has selected it.

But apparently some little part of your brain has decided it’s not finished with those three seconds yet.

So around they go again.

And again.

And…

Sorry, did mentioning Dugga Doo just put it in your head too?

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